Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 25-28.

Feeding the hungry and giving water to the thirsty is a basic tenet of Christianity, even if they have done us wrong, especially if they have done us wrong.  Here is how the proverb writer puts that message:

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
    if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
    and the Lord will reward you.

Doing good to those who have done us wrong will shame those capable of being shamed, and God will deal with the rest.  Sometimes following the writer’s advice will turn an enemy into a friend.  More importantly, you will not fall to their level and God will reward you.

Yesterday I mentioned some proverbs which appear to contradict other proverbs.  Here is an example of such where one follows right after the other:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.
 Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.

I always read this as warning us against getting caught up in an argument with a fool without allowing them to think that we agree with them.  Another interpretation, which does not nullify the one I just gave says that we should not allow fools to define the scope of the debate.  I have seen this second point made by those who warn against allowing those we disagree with to define the words used to debate an issue, because most times the actual issue in dispute is the meaning of those words.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Proverbs 22-24.

I am going to follow the pattern I have used the last couple of days; pulling a few of the proverbs out of today’s passage and commenting on them.  The first two I want to look at have related messages:

Rich and poor have this in common:
    The Lord is the Maker of them all.

Humility is the fear of the Lord;
    its wages are riches and honor and life.

The second one that those who fear the Lord are humble.  Which means that those who are not humble do not fear the Lord.  Elsewhere the proverb writer tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,  Taken together these tell us that those who are arrogant are not wise.  This brings me to the first of these two proverbs.  Any claim to greatness I may have comes from the fact that I am made in God’s image.  Yet, everyone can make the same claim.  We should humbly recognize that we are no better, and no worse, than others.  True humility means recognizing this fact: I am neither better than others, nor am I less than others.  We often fail to recognize that considering ourselves inferior to others is a kind of arrogance and as much to be avoided as considering ourselves superior to others.

I was tempted to conclude with the previous paragraph, but I think the lesson from putting these next two proverbs together too important to leave out.

The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

The sluggard says, “There’s a lion outside!
    I’ll be killed in the public square!”

The first of these proverbs says that we should carefully plan for danger.  The second of these warns against using danger as an excuse to not work.  One could easily see them as contradictory., but, like several other proverbs, they should act as warnings that we can take good ideas too far.  On the one hand, we should be alert to danger and take refuge from it.  On the other hand, we must not use imaginary danger as an excuse to not take get anything done.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.